NYU Stern Establishes New Loan Assistance Program

The New York University Stern School of Business this week announced the creation of a Loan Assistance Program for full-time, part-time and Executive MBA graduates. That’s right. The financial burden of business school just lessened.

Indeed, with support from its Social Enterprise Association MBA Club, NYU Stern aims to reduce the financial burden of repaying business school loans for graduates who pursue career paths in social enterprise. Recognizing that careers in this field often don’t bring in the big bucks associated with tracks like financial services, consulting and marketing, this new initiative aims to help support leaders committed to creating value for business and society.

NYU Stern Dean Peter Henry praised the initiative. “Business has the power to improve the world,” he said. “We encourage students to consider the world’s most pressing issues as opportunities to raise their ambitions to create value for business and society.” The new Loan Assistance Program, he hopes, “will minimize the financial constraints that might otherwise dissuade students from exploring opportunities about which they are passionate.”

The program is open to MBA graduates who earn up to $100,000 within the first 10 years of graduation. Through the Loan Assistance Program, they stand to receive up to $15,000 a year, based on a sliding scale. The application deadline in November 1st. Current students graduating in May may pre-apply up until June 15th. Beginning in 2013, the pre-application deadline will be February 1st.

“This is a major step forward for our community, and solidly aligns our mission and values with the financial support that is necessary for students to pursue careers in social enterprise,” said Matt Edmundson and Daniel Saat, Social Enterprise Association MBA co-presidents, 2011-2012. For his part, Edmunson, a May 2012 Stern graduate, will launch a company with classmate Jennifer Tsai to help combat maternal anemia in India.

The Stern MBA class of 2010 already has raised more than $90,000 to support loan assistance, says Gianna Shepard, MBA ’10, legacy co-chair and former officer in the Social Enterprise Association. “As students we helped to create social enterprise initiatives within the school, and now as alumni, we can help members of our community pursue their passion and make a difference for society.”